My Industrial @ Shakedown Street- Maine

By Anonymous · Sept. 17, 1999

wanted a piercing for years, ever since I saw my best friends and their lip rings. The girls I liked always had lip rings, and my best friend in the last year of high school had her lip pierced thrice, tongue, eyebrow, nose, the works. When my only close male friend came back from Florida with a PA and his tongue done, I knew I needed to get something done. I scoured tat mags, looked at people on the street (around here, piercings are rare) and most of all looked on the internet. My mother was sort of supportive, but wished I would keep it to dying my hair and wearing my t-shirts, nothing permanent. Then, I found the right piercing for me.

The time is sometime around Easter '99. I had been saving up for my septum ring, but I was only 17 at the time, and my mother wouldn't let me get it done. Instead, she said I could get any piercing I wanted in my ear. I looked for piercing websites to see what my options were, and stumbled on BME. There I saw the industrial.... I immediately loved it. I groaned and grumbled, and finally she said she would pay for it. Joy! So we saddled up the car and headed for Shakedown.
The piercer there is Adam, a very nice guy who is heavily pierced himself. I forgot my ID and a permission waiver, so I had to call my father from the studio and wait until he could send the permission. The fax was down, and thus Adam told me I could just bring a note the next time I came. I sat down in the chair while my good friends who I had come with all sat staring at me from over the counter, or reading the tat mags. Finally Adam was done sterilizing my rings, and pulled the curtain back. The only one of friends in the room was my buddy Newt, who had gotten his nipples done at Shakedown the week before. Adam and I chatted about his septum ring, while he prepped the spot. Being an overly careful person, I had shown Adam where to find the pics of the industrial on BME, since he had never done one. I felt that he would do a good job.
He told me to take a deep breath, close my eyes if I wanted, and when I breathed in, he pierced me. Well, it was reminiscent of when I was trying to walk after getting my appendix removed. Quick, sharp pain.
Then, he put the ring through. Next, he did it again, which was much worse, going through much more cartilage and slower than the first. Finally, my CBR's were through, and I got up, a bit woozie, shaked his hand, and left. On the ride home, some of my friends kept trying to flip the rings, but a quick rap on the hands was enough to keep them from doing it.
Then the worst thing happened- my hair got a bit too long, and kept sliding into it when I was asleep. Soon it was infected. I simply kept the rings clean from then on in, got my hair cut short, and tried harder to keep it clean. The filth cleaned up in a week or so, and my piercing was a happy camper.
I wore my rings, 14ga CBR, 1/2" diameter, for three months, until I got sick of them, and we figured I could change, so I ordered a 2" straight 14ga barbell from Rings and Things and put it through. After a bit of crackling and a bit of warm pain, it was done. I had the Industrial I wanted!!
Note that after about three days, I wanted another piercing...Oh well... I have the money for that septum, and I'm 18 now, so it looks like the industrial was just the beginning. I owe it all to my friend Newt and BME for helping me convince my mother and myself that I wanted this done. Feel free to e-mail me, I e-mailed many people about their industrials before I got mine done and heard all sides of the story.
Would I get it done again, you ask? Heck yes. I am hoping to get my other ear done and have some spiked labret pieces put through the top of my earlobe. The upkeep and aftercare on this piercing was minimal, and I have had more pain from banging my finger with a hammer. It lasted a bit longer. I sleep on that side of my body, and let it be known that that was an unpleasant feeling. Also, I recommend that you not dye your hair for a little while after it is done. I did, and it was a bit raw feeling after. The best part about the piercing is that my barbell is long enough to move back and forth in the piercing now, and it freaks some people out. It is a fairly... Ok, extremely... rare piercing around here. I am one of two people I have seen with it done in person.

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